Inside the Obama-Shapiro Relationship – The New York Times

In 2007, a Pennsylvania state representative named Josh Shapiro broke with much of the Democratic establishment to back for president a first-term senator from Illinois named Barack Obama.

Mr. Obama, who lost Pennsylvania’s 2008 primary to Hillary Clinton but won the presidency, did not forget it.

Over the nearly two decades since that early endorsement, Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Obama remained in touch, developing a connection that is closer than is commonly understood, according to interviews with people who know them both. Now, Mr. Shapiro is a popular governor in a crucial battleground state who could join a presidential ticket himself, as Vice President Kamala Harris, another early Obama supporter, weighs her running-mate options.

The relationship between the two men offers a window into the instincts and influences of one of Ms. Harris’s top choices.

“Josh was one of our earliest supporters in 2008 in Pennsylvania, when almost all the political establishment was with Hillary,” David Plouffe, who managed Mr. Obama’s campaign that year, said in a text message on Thursday. (Separately, on Friday, the Harris campaign announced that Mr. Plouffe had joined as a senior adviser.)

“They spent a lot of time together, and Obama thought from Day 1 he had a super high political ceiling,” Mr. Plouffe added. “He stuck with us during the bad times, including us getting pummeled in his home state, and never shied from a single thing we asked him to do.”

Over the past year, heading into a pivotal presidential election, they have spent time together in person, and the governor continues to seek Mr. Obama’s advice, according to a person with knowledge of the relationship who insisted on anonymity to describe private conversations.

Certainly, Mr. Obama knows and has supported other vice-presidential contenders over their careers, including Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona. A person close to Mr. Obama said the former president seeks to be a sounding board and confidant for Ms. Harris. But the person, who was also granted anonymity to discuss private conversations, did not expect Mr. Obama to put a thumb on the scale for any vice-presidential contender.

It is not clear where Mr. Shapiro’s candidacy stands in Ms. Harris’s eyes, as he faces growing scrutiny in the national spotlight, and criticism from some on the political left. Mr. Shapiro, along with Mr. Walz and Mr. Kelly, is scheduled to meet with Ms. Harris on Sunday at her residence in Washington, D.C., The Times reported.

Mr. Shapiro described Mr. Obama as someone “whose example I’ve tried to emulate” in an interview last week, but he declined to comment on “any communications that I have with President Obama.”

Some have suggested — sometimes lightheartedly, sometimes mockingly — that Mr. Shapiro has taken his goal of emulating Mr. Obama’s example literally.

Among the likenesses: They both managed to end up with family dogs named “Bo.” And Mr. Shapiro’s cadence, rhythms and sometimes even hand gestures can seem so reminiscent of the former president’s that some people have started jokingly referring online to Mr. Shapiro, who is Jewish, as “Baruch Obama.”

Highlighting the similarities, “The Daily Show” questioned whether Mr. Shapiro was “doing an Obama.” Former President Donald J. Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, suggested recently that Mr. Shapiro “talks like Barack Obama. It’s like if I tried to do a really bad impression of Barack Obama.”

“Barack Obama was probably our most gifted orator of my time, so it’s kind of a weird insult,” Mr. Shapiro quipped at a news conference on Friday in response, where he offered a preview of how he might take on Mr. Vance if he were Ms. Harris’s pick.

Mr. Obama and Mr. Shapiro have known each other since at least 2006, meeting at a political event at the Keswick Theatre outside Philadelphia, Mr. Shapiro has said. Former Representative Patrick J. Murphy, Democrat of Pennsylvania, was there, too.

He recalled talking about basketball backstage with a group that included Mr. Obama, a Chicago Bulls fan, and Mr. Shapiro, who is devoted to the Philadelphia 76ers.

In 2007, despite Mrs. Clinton’s front-runner status for the Democratic nomination, Mr. Shapiro endorsed Mr. Obama for president, impressed by his promises to wind down the war in Iraq, said Mr. Murphy, who recalled discussing the decision with Mr. Shapiro.

They became active campaigners on Mr. Obama’s behalf. Mr. Shapiro also drafted an open letter to the state’s Jewish community on behalf of Mr. Obama, after incendiary statements made by Mr. Obama’s former pastor had surfaced.

After Mr. Obama won the White House, Mr. Shapiro kept in touch with him and his political team.

Mr. Murphy, who went on to serve as an acting secretary of the Army in the Obama administration in 2016, sometimes played basketball with Mr. Obama. He recalled Mr. Shapiro’s name coming up.

“Every time I would see him, he’s like, ‘How’s my guy Josh doing?’” Mr. Murphy said of his interactions with Mr. Obama. “All those folks in Obama’s orbit have a real soft spot for Josh Shapiro for doing what he did when it was not popular.”

Mr. Shapiro said Mr. Obama’s approach to campaigning had shaped how he thought about his own races. In particular, he noted the time that Mr. Obama spent in conservative territory.

Mr. Shapiro has won statewide election three times — twice for state attorney general and once for governor — by running up the margins in the suburbs, and by performing more strongly in rural areas than many others in his party.

“He went to these communities that had been ignored, that, frankly, too many folks in our party ignored for too long, and he let those folks know he was going to fight for them,” Mr. Shapiro said of Mr. Obama. “That was an important thing for me to see as I was beginning my political career as an elected official. And it’s something that I’ve tried to remember, reflect on and emulate as I’ve gone forward.”

In 2016, when Mr. Shapiro was in a competitive primary for state attorney general, he kept the White House political team in the loop.

By the end of March, Mr. Obama had taken the unusual step of intervening with his endorsement, a reflection, in part, of their personal relationship.

“He represents a new generation of progressive leadership,” Mr. Obama said in an advertisement for Mr. Shapiro released before the primary.

That November, shortly after Election Day, Democrats were reeling from Mrs. Clinton’s stunning collapse to Mr. Trump, including in Pennsylvania.

Mr. Obama headlined a call to rally demoralized Democrats. Mr. Shapiro, who had won his race in a rare bright spot for the party, introduced him, saying Mr. Obama’s “vision continues to be a North Star for many of us.”

“Mr. President,” he concluded, “the line is yours. Thank you for this honor.”

Kitty Bennett contributed research. Campbell Robertson contributed reporting.